There are 24 of the coveted Hermès bags for sale at the Birkin Bar of the LXR & Co website, in colours from kelly green to candy pink and toned-down calf, with prices ranging from about $9,000 to $30,000 a pop.

That’s just a small sampling of the vintage luxury goods available from the Montreal company, which has stores in New York, Beverly Hills and The Bay in Toronto, and operations in 36 countries. Other brands on offer: Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci, in conditions from mint to used or broken, and priced at up to 80 per cent off regular retail price.

An online startup at the end of 2011, LXR is now doing $20 million in sales this year, says CEO Fred Mannella.

Fred Mannella, CEO of LXR & Co, poses in his Montreal office with a few of the vintage luxury bags he sells online and in stores in Beverly Hills, New York and Toronto. From left, a Hermès shoulder Birkin, $7,995, Chanel 2.55, $4995, and Louis Vuitton Speedy Damier, $695.

“We’re trying to build the first true vintage luxury brand,” he said.

The model is vertical integration with three platforms: its own online shop, wholesaling to other shops like Montreal’s Beyond the Rack and Gilt, and bricks-and-mortar stores. All of this is headquartered in Montreal, with 30 employees here of a total of about 100. None of the stock of perhaps 6,000 handbags and accessories are warehoused here.

The push now is on bricks-and-mortar shops, Mannella, 29, said.

“People are bombarded every day with online offers. Especially in the luxury business, you want to feel it and touch it,” he said.

“It is absolutely survival mode,” he said of the move into physical stores. “If you only have a business online, it’s very challenging.”

Beverly Hills opened in 2012, followed by a Soho shop last year, and last month, a 3,000-square-foot shop at Century 21, called C21 Edition, in New York. In Canada, since June, LXR has partnered with Hudson’s Bay and has a shop-in-shop at the Queen St. flagship. Montreal’s downtown Bay gets a pop-up shop Dec. 20-26, in the handbag department on the main floor.

A candy pink Hermès Birkin on sale at LXR & Co’s Century 21 store in New York. The bag, which goes for $24,995, is a 2011 edition. COURTESY LXR & CO.

Of the 6,000 items in the company’s inventory, about 2,000 are listed online at any one time. And while the most expensive ever was a crocodile Hermès bag with diamond studded hardware at about $150,000 — “a client in Toronto bought that” — the focus is on a reasonable price point of about $200 t0 $400, Mannella said. Hermès scarves and bracelets, Cartier wallets and key rings, and other luxury brand accessories and jewelry are listed.

It is difficult to make a profit online only, he said.

“The cost of acquisition to get members is so high because of Google ads and PPC (pay per click).”

Click costs are expensive, but keeping those online viewers is not that easy.

“The worst part is that they’re not that loyal,” Mannella said. “They move around — there is no loyalty like you would have in a regular store.

“You need to get somebody to come into your virtual store. That person will maybe buy once every 12 months, and may never come back, and may not buy, and you’ve paid for it.

“That’s a serious, serious challenge.”

Now, LXR is looking to attract loyalty by building a brand recognized on the streets.

LXR is profitable, he said, otherwise it would not have gotten investments, like $1.5 million in debt financing from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) as well as $1.1 million from Investissement Québec.

Maxime Tourangeau, director of BDC’s growth and transition capital division that invests in fast-growing companies, said criteria for investment are both tangible and intangible. It relies on metrics and financial analyses, but “we have to believe that the company is able to replicate what it has achieved.”

“We are really banking on the entrepreneurs themselves,” Tourangeau said.

BDC Capital’s growth and transition division has investments of about $600 million in Canadian companies.

“One thing with Fred (Mannella) is that he is a really innovative entrepreneur. The status quo is not enough,” Tourangeau said. “Being able to blend e-commerce and retail is one key element of LXR.”

Mannella said he has shied away from finding equity partners, as another Montreal online startup, Frank & Oak, has done. Frank & Oak, which recently raised $15 million in investment, is also going the brick-and-mortar route, with its atelier in Montreal and a Queen St. flagship opened last month in Toronto.

SSense is another huge Montreal success story in online fashion retailing.

“It’s a big deal. (Montreal) as a hub for online startups is pretty impressive,” Mannella said.

The big challenge now is finding specific talent, like SEO (search engine optimization) specialists or retail managers, but that would be an issue anywhere, he added.

Mannella, who went to university in Japan, started the company with his wife, Kei Izawa, straight out of university. They saw the booming luxury vintage market in Hong Kong, saw an opportunity and “jumped into it,” he said.

The first step was a store on Queen Mary Rd. for a short period in 2010. “At the time, nobody was doing this. Now, the competition was fierce,” he said.

He and his wife were able to amass stock and grow quickly, he said, recalling a sale of 100 Louis Vuitton bags to Beyond the Rack, worth about $80,000, in 2011. The offering was so successful, it crashed the BTR website and sold out in an hour, he said.

“We started from scratch,” Mannella said, without family funding, but with friends like lawyers and accountants to help out at the start.

“This kind of business, you can run it from anywhere in the world.”

The Louis Vuitton Suhali from LXR & Co goes for $1,395.

LXR & Co is offering up this Chanel 2.55 for $4,995.

]]>http://montrealgazette.com/business/local-business/retail/montreals-lxr-co-eyes-bricks-and-mortar-expansion-for-its-worldwide-luxury-online-business/feed0121114-1216_biz_lxr_-_6530-1216_biz_lxr-W.jpgevitafFred Mannella, CEO of LXR & Co, poses in his Montreal office with a few of the vintage luxury bags he sells online and in stores in Beverly Hills, New York and Toronto. From left, a Hermès shoulder Birkin, $7,995, Chanel 2.55, $4995, and Louis Vuitton Speedy Damier, $695. A candy pink Hermès Birkin on sale at LXR & Co's Century 21 store in New York. The bag goes for $24,995 is a 2011 edition. COURTESY LXR & CO.The Louis Vuitton Suhali from LXR & Co goes for $1,395. MONTREAL, QUE.: DECEMBER 11, 2014 -- LXR & Co. is an online retailer of luxury vintage bags and accessories based in Montreal with stores in New York and Beverly Hills. A vintage Louis Vuitton bag at the office in Montreal, on Thursday, December 11, 2014. (Dave Sidaway / MONTREAL GAZETTE)LXR & Co is offering up this Chanel 2.55 for $4,995. MONTREAL, QUE.: DECEMBER 11, 2014 -- LXR & Co. is an online retailer of luxury vintage bags and accessories based in Montreal with stores in New York and Beverly Hills. A vintage Chanel purse at the office in Montreal, on Thursday, December 11, 2014. (Dave Sidaway / MONTREAL GAZETTE)Red carpet rewind: 12 fashion moments to considerhttp://montrealgazette.com/life/fashion-beauty/red-carpet-rewind-12-fashion-moments-to-consider
http://montrealgazette.com/life/fashion-beauty/red-carpet-rewind-12-fashion-moments-to-consider#commentsMon, 27 Feb 2012 21:08:16 +0000http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/?p=151292]]>In the cold light of the day after, here is what I really think. And here are 12 fashion moments from the Oscars fashion parade worth mulling over:

Westwood ho! Rose Byrne was the belle of the ball in an utterly modern black sequin number by the queen of punk, Vivienne Westwood

Rose Byrne in Vivienne Westwood. All pictures by Getty Images

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La Jolie and her leg.

Never legging go. There was no more heated discussion at the water cooler this morning than about Angelina Jolie’s annoying pose. The verdict was unanimous: she’s too skinny and her leg (with its own Twitter account now) was a bomb. Her insistence on exposing a leg outside the sky-high slit of her Atelier Versace dress actually ruined all enjoyment of what was a glorious black velvet ballgown, and very Westwoodian.

Take the cape off, Gwyneth.

The Ford crusader. Gwyneth Paltrow in a white Tom Ford cape and dress captured the spotlight. The dress was great when she deigned to remove the cape. But the real wonder is what kind of army of trainers, nutritionists, masseurs, estheticians keeps that body in shape. Wow. That is some bod, and she will be 40 this year.

Jesssica Chastain, McQueen of the night.

Queen of the red carpet. You can’t deny that Jessica Chastain was regal in the brocade black and gold Alexander McQueen gown. She kept it modern with a casual hairdo. But I’m not so sure the gown makes the trip from runway to red carpet that well. It’s just a bit too baroque. On the other hand, a coat in that fabric would be terrific. And a couple of Harry Winston yellow diamonds to match.

Michelle Williams, pretty in persimmon. (She called it coral.)

Colour her beautiful. Michelle Williams, a darling of the red carpet, stepped up this time. She always gets good reviews, even for the dowdy Jason Wu dress she wore to the Golden Globes this season and the blinding marigold Vera Wang she wore in 2006. This time, her coral Louis Vuitton with peplum actually worked well, especially with the darling Fred Leighton diamond bow brooch at her waist. I might have liked a Marilyn moment, however.

Judy Greer, on trend in Marchesa.

Jazzing it up. Judy Greer’s Marchesa was simple and elegant, and on trend.

Rooney Mara, the fashion darling in Givenchy.

The fashion darling. Rooney Mara was going to be a fashion star of the evening any way the wind blew. That she chose white Givenchy was a surprise; she was expected to wear black, by Calvin Klein, for her image as a dark heroine. The gown was fine; what really worked was the whole package: the blunt cut black bangs, ethereal pale skin, red lips and anti-Angelina pose.

Draped in glory. Alber Elbaz surely was thinking of the Oscar statuette when he draped Meryl Streep in glittering goldish bronze. The dress was a marvel; I would love to see it in a heavy silk charmeuse in black, violet, fuschia ……

Second thoughts: Stacy Keibler in gold Marchesa. Yes, she wore it well. But the rose hip is really too much.

Taking a bow: Emma Stone’s Giambattista Valli confection owed a lot to Balenciaga, who dressed Nicole Kidman in a similar package in 2007. The look was far more adorable on Stone — until she did her silly number with Ben Stiller on stage.

J. Lo and la Diaz: bottoms up.

Bottoms up: Never mind the supposed nip slip. J. Lo and Cameron Diaz know how to play up their best assests.And the good grief award goes to 11-year-old Amara Miller, who wore a frothy Valentino Couture confection.

Fashion heroine Rooney Mara defied all bets on the Oscar red carpet Sunday night, showing up in an ivory lace gown by Givenchy, with train and slightly kinky strap treatment on the back. It was a stunner, contrasting with her severe black hair, white skin and red lips – and the black she was expected to wear.

Also refreshing was 20-year-old Shailee Woodley in demure white Valentino Couture, high on the neck, with long sleeves and a disc design on the bodice.

Making it a trio in winning white, Gwyneth Paltrow wore a gown and cape from the ultra luxe Tom Ford line, so exclusive that pictures from his presentations are not released to media. “This was it,” Paltrow said of the dress, declining to remove the strong-shouldered cape on the red carpet.

Michelle Williams stood out in a strapless Louis Vuitton, a millefeuile of coral chiffon with a peplum, set off with a diamond bow brooch at the waist.

And Jessica Chastain rocked a baroque gold and black Alexander McQueen, with a strapless bodice that actually fit – with a reported $2 million worth of Harry Winston jewels.

Meryl Streep came not as the Iron Lady, but as the copper-golden girl, her draped, glittering Lanvin gown more than a wink to the coveted Oscar statuette.

Stacey Keibler shone in gold Marchesa, also referencing the golden statue her date, George Clooney, was expected to take home. The gown was fodder for quips about the trophy girlfriend, but it was a winner with its twirl of fabric forming a large rose on her skinny hip.

The early trend that emerged was sequins, often with a nod to the flapper age featured in The Artist.

There was a black backless Vivienne Westwood on Rose Byrne (it would be my pick for Rooney Mara), rust strapless Armani Privé on Elie Kemper, red on Jane Seymour, silver on Lea Thompson, emerald with a sparkling bodice by Vera Wang on Viola Davis.

It all began to look a little bit like Christmas.

Emma Stone, too young, perhaps, to remember Nicole Kidman in a similar number by Balenciaga, wore bright red Giambatista Valli with a giant red bow on the neck.

The Artist seemed to inspire many of the celebrity choices.

The film’s female lead, Bérénice Bejo, wore a mint beaded Elie Saab, with a Heidi do, that did not quite qualify as “on” era.

Milla Jovovich, also in beaded Elie Saab (it usually is), chanelled the look with red lips, plenty of rouge and a flapper do.

Sandra Bullock’s Marchesa gown had a dropped emellished waist, also a hallmark of the time. Her ponytail broke the mood, though.

Jennifer Lopez, “glistening,’’ according to Ryan Seacrest, wore sparkling white Zuhair Murad with a geometric pattern fanning from the centre that is emblematic of the era.

Octavia Spencer’s Tadashi Shoji gown had the same pattern in sequins, while Judy Greer trumpeted the jazz age with a stunner of a black gown with gold panel down the front.

Interesting article in the The Wall Street Journal today about a change in the shopping attitudes of Chinese consumers. It seems that a growing number of Chinese shoppers are shunning cheap knockoffs of designer clothing and accessories, preferring instead to shell out more money for the prestige of owning the “real thing.”

But fakes are still a problem in China , the WSJ reports:

“Chinese authorities seized counterfeit goods valued at 5.33 billion yuan ($847 million) last year, according to China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The country also is the leading source for counterfeit and pirated goods seized in the U.S., accounting for 62% of the $124.7 million in goods seized last year, according to the U.S. government.”